Before Dawn
by xVampyx
Summary: Taking an extra class which studies the existence of the supernatural, Kori is fascinated with the subject. What happens when her interest becomes reality, and is thrown into a world of supernatural, not knowing if her life will return back to normal? RichardxKori Rated T (rating may change) Read and Review!
1. Chapter One: Journey into the Unknown

_**Before Dawn**_

**Summary:**Kori Anders is a student who is drawn to the idea of the supernatural existence. What happens when her interest becomes reality and is thrown into the world of supernatural, knowing her life won't ever go back to being normal? RichardxKori Rated T (Rating may change)

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.

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><p>"<em>I want you to believe...to believe in things that you cannot." – Bram Stoker, Dracula<em>

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><p><em>Chapter One: Journey into the Unknown<em>

A tall man stood in front of a classroom, his eyes glancing around the room before answering a student's question. His smile brought a certain warmth to the room, and everyone seemed captivated in the topic of the discussion.

"Yes, another mythical being that we will cover are werewolves. These creatures, though human, will turn into the beast within every full moon. But how does one turn into a werewolf?"

"Isn't it genetic, Professor Wilson?" shouted out a tall, muscular man named Roy Harper. The women in the classroom all turned to look at him, practically swooning over the mere sound of his voice. He gave them a wink before turning his attention back to his amused professor.

The professor was new at Jump University, and unlike the other professors, he kept to himself. That being said, he also managed to bring a certain livelihood to his classroom during his lectures, so it was safe to say he was a student favorite. He was a tall but slender man, not too old but still had specks of grey in his black hair.

"Yes, it can be Mr. Harper," he said smoothly, "A being with the curse of lycanthropy can mate with other lycanthropes, or even normal humans, and produce a lycanthrope offspring."

"However," he continued, "One can also be bitten or scratched, and turn into a werewolf the very next full moon."

"You said one who is born with the 'curse' of lycanthropy? How does one get the curse?" another student on the other side of the room asked, writing notes down as he finished speaking.

Professor Wilson smiled again, observing his students with the look of appreciation. "I am very pleased that I actually have a classroom who is willing to join in on a discussion," he chuckled, "But, one can acquire the curse through different ways. It is said that the curse began by a witch, god, or even demon casting a spell on a human, who then has spread the 'curse' throughout time, by breeding and attacking. So therefore those who are from werewolf decent, have the chance of becoming one was well, and therefore are 'born with the curse'."

He glanced around and watched as many students wrote all of this down, "However, student's, don't get too caught up with werewolves right now. For that is a topic for a later day. We have plenty of time to discuss that and other topics; after all, this class is the journey into the unknown. Today, I want to discuss a different creature, the known rival to werewolves."

"This creature is said to feed off the living, only being able to roam the earth at night. Cruel, immortal beings who are thought to be able to glamour their ways into mortals homes, only to cause destruction, death upon those they can sink their fangs into. Who here knows what creature I am speaking of?" he said, his tone somewhat darker than the casual, smooth tone he had before.

His eyes landed on young woman, sitting closer to the front of the class. She was strikingly beautiful, with her auburn hair, bright green eyes, and lightly tanned skin. She was in the middle of writing something down on the notebook lying in front of her on her desk when he called out, "What about you Miss Anders?"

She practically jumped at the randomness of being called out, and glanced around the classroom to see students still with their hands in the air. _Well that's weird, why didn't he just call on one of them? _She wondered before answering, "Vampires?"

Her uneasiness faded, as he clapped his hands together, "Very good Miss Anders!" He turned and walked quickly over to his chalk board, writing the word VAMPIRE. He dropped the chalk back down in the tray, and refaced his students.

"Now, I know you all are die-hard Vamp fans due to things like Twilight. I can however, assure you that if such creatures existed, they won't be sparkling out in the sunlight," he paused, appreciating the classroom filling with laughter.

His eyes suddenly darkened, "No. I can assure you that if you were to run into one, you won't make it out alive. Body left drained in some dark alleyway. Or, if you're 'lucky', you'll still be 'alive' if that's what you'd want to call it. You'd be left merely just existing, never being able to celebrate another birthday since you'd never age again. Never be able to walk in the sunlight… If such creatures existed," he continued on, suddenly lightening his tone, "We would live in a very scary world, more than usual."

He glanced up at the clock, and realized his class was already almost over. "Well, I was going to go a bit more into detail, but I fear time as slipped away from us. I brought up Vampirism today because I want you all to write a paper dealing with how vampires came into existence, focus on different theories about them, include famous legendary vampires, and your own personal opinion on these creatures. Anything and everything, the sky is your limit. I'll send further instructions on blackboard, have a good night class, you are dismissed."

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><p>Kori quickly gathered her notebooks and her bag, and stood up from her chair. She felt eyes on her, and she paused and glanced to her left to see Roy Harper looking at her from across the classroom. She rolled her eyes at him were he could see, and continued onto walking out of the classroom.<p>

She took a deep breath as she stepped outside onto the campus, the cold air hitting her hard, causing her to shiver. It was dark outside, since she chose to have a night class to accommodate her part time job in the library during the day.

She wrapped her jacket tighter around herself, and continued her path towards the parking lot. Kori glanced around as she realized that the parking lot was a lot more empty than usual, and it made her feel a bit uneasy.

She quickened her pace, suddenly thinking she could feel someone watching her every move. _Oh stop freaking out, there's no one here. This parking lot is practically deserted, _she thought to herself, still glancing in every direction around her.

For a moment she thought she could hear footsteps near her, but when she turned in said sounds direction, there was nothing there. She kept her eyes on her red car, parked still at a little distance. "Of all days to park so far away," she muttered, but then sighed in relief as she reached her car door.

She searched her bag for her car keys so she could unlock her car, but paused again, whipping her body around to face the darkness around her. "I know I heard something that time" she whispered to herself, fear consuming her. She quickly turned around and again, shoving everything around in her bag desperately trying to find her car keys.

She felt a sudden warmth behind her, and a hand grabbed her arm. Her body tensed and as she went to scream, but a hand covered her mouth before she could.

"Shhh, Kori. Calm down, it's me," Roy Harper said, turning her around, laughing at her expression. She was fuming.

"What the hell is your problem? You clearly knew I was freaked out. You are such an ass," she shouted, venom dripping from every word. He threw his hands up in defense, "Oh chill out. I was just messing with you."

"Well I don't want you to mess with me Roy. In fact, I don't want anything to do with you ever again, " she spat out, glaring up at him. "Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll be going home now."

She pulled out her keys from her bag, and pressed the unlock button. Her eyes never left his, staring each other down.

Finally breaking the eye contact, she turned and opened her car door. She got into driver seat and went to shut the door when he jerked the door back open.

"Are you really going to be this way, Kori? I mean… I said I was sorry," he said, almost pleadingly. She fought back any sympathy she might feel for him, and snorted, "Sorry? How is one word supposed to make up for you cheating on me, after being with me for two years Roy? With my sister, of all people. I'm done with you, now leave me alone." She grabbed her door, and slammed it shut, almost shutting his fingers in with it.

She started her car and quickly pulled out of the parking lot, causing Roy to jump back in surprise. Surprisingly enough for Kori, she felt no guilt as she left him standing there in an empty parking lot, looking devastated. She smiled slightly to herself, watching as his figure shrunk in her rear view mirror, before disappearing completely.

She wanted to hurt him, she wanted him to feel as badly as she did walking in on them having sex at her friends party in an upstairs bedroom. Kori was tired of being the girl to walk on egg shells to avoid hurting anyone's feelings, of always being the type of person to forgive – she was done with being Roy's doormat, and she wanted to make that clear to him.

Kori was quickly snapped out of her thoughts as a figure suddenly appeared in the middle of the road. "SHIT," she screamed, slamming down on her brakes. The figure held his hand out in a fist, punching the hood of the car as it started to slide into him. In return, the car came to a stop, a dent in the hood of the car.

Her mouth hung open as she glanced from the dent in her car from the punch, up to the smiling man who stood in front in front of it.

She self-consciously locked the doors, and sat there uneasy and silent. She felt around her coat pocket, searching for her cellphone, not knowing what else to do. Her eyes never left the strangers, who was strangely quite beautiful, but had a smile that was more frightening than comforting.

Kori felt her heart beat start to race, as the man started to walk around her vehicle, as if he was doing an inspection. She found her cellphone, and starting to dial 911 when she jumped and dropped her phone as the man had punched her window.

Glass flew all around her, and she screamed as she tried to grab her phone off the car floor. She heard the man unlock the car door, and soon his hands were ahold of her, dragging her out of the car. Her arms began flailing around trying to punch him, but he soon had ahold of both of her arms before any hit actually connected to his body.

"No need to be screaming," he said in a sickeningly sweet tone, his eyes going up and down her body. He had pinned her against the car, and leaned forward to smell her hair. "You smell delicious, and not just your hair and perfume either. That's just a bonus."

"What do you want?" she stammered out, her body tensing under his intense gaze. "I can give you all the money I have and anything else… Just please… Don't hurt me," she squeaked out, fearing for her life. _I'm going to _d_ie tonight, oh my god… _ she thought to herself, feeling herself panic even more as she realized he was in fact wearing black leather gloves.

Though she was scared, she hated to admit that the man holding her against her will, was oddly beautiful. He had pale skin, brown hair, and a beautiful shade of golden eyes. "You think I did all this for what little money you probably have on you?" he snorted coldly, breathing down on her. She pulled her eyes away from his and looked at the ground. "Please… just… do what you want and leave me alone," she said, practically crying. She knew she sounded weak, but she knew she also didn't stand a chance against him. She could see how muscular he was, and his body already towered over her own petite one.

She shivered as she still felt his breath on the top of her head. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to blink away the tears that were beginning to stream down her face as she felt him put his finger under her chin, guiding her face to look up at his.

His eerie smile was now gone, and she almost thought she saw a look of sadness across his face. "No need for the tears, cutie," he began, before bringing back his smug, cold tone, "Not yet anyways. No, I'm just here to greet you tonight and to give you some instructions."

She narrowed her eyes, "Instructions? Instruction's for what?"

He looked down at her, still with a smug look on his face. "I need you to come to a… party with me tomorrow night," he said, pulling out an envelope from his back pocket, handing it to her. "That is the address, and instructions on what to wear. Don't disappoint."

This time she laughed. He raised his eye brows, somewhat surprised at her reaction. "You find something to be funny?" he asked, all seriousness returning to his face. She knew she should be intimidated, but she couldn't help but to keep laughing.

"You did all this to make me go to a… party?" she choked out, still laughing out of disbelief.

She suddenly stopped laughing as his hand shot up and held her throat, "I used 'party' for a lack of a better term, dear. And if you don't come willingly to this gathering, you will still come even if I have to go to your apartment tomorrow night and drag you there by your hair." His grip on her throat tightened, and he grinned at the fear in her eyes.

"2234 Willow Street, Apartment C. You live there alone, with exception to your cat. Your father is Myan Anders, who visits every other weekend. And I must say cutie, your purple satin sheets on your bed are very comfortable."

"What the f-"

"Ah ah ah," he taunted, "Language. Now be there tomorrow, or I promise you, your night will be a lot worse if you don't participate willingly. And if you speak a word of this to anyone, trust me, I will know. So don't even think about it."

"In fact," he went on, his eyes sparking up as he leaned into her car and grabbed her cellphone, "I'll be taking this for tonight as well." He shoved it into his pocket with his free hand, and finally released her throat.

Kori brought her hand up to her throat, rubbing it gently where his hand had been. "What… are you?" she asked aloud, quietly as she thought back to how he just randomly appeared out of thin air – or so it seemed – in front of her car. He chuckled, "You'll be finding that out tomorrow, cutie."

He leaned back into the car, and popped the hood. He walked to the front, and almost effortlessly popped the dent of it. After shutting the hood, he brushed his hands off, and placed them in his pockets.

He looked back at her, with a charming smile on his face, "Oh, and by the way, I'm Xavier. You can call me X. Have a nice rest of the night, cutie. See you tomorrow." And with a wink, he was out of her sight in a matter of seconds.

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><p><strong>Read and Review if you want, let me know what you think of it so far. As I said, right now I'm keeping it T, but it may change later on as the story progresses. <strong>


	2. Chapter Two: A New Acquaintance

_**Before Dawn**_

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><p><em>"I want you to believe... to believe in things that you cannot," - Bram Stoker, Dracula.<em>

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><p><em>Chapter Two: A New Acquaintance<em>

Kori unlocked her apartment door quickly, and shut the door as fast as she could once she was inside. The entire ride home she was completely freaking out, not knowing what to do with herself. She locked the door behind her, and ran around her apartment closing all of her curtains and double checking the window locks.

She could feel the tears stinging her eyes as Xavier's words _"your purple satin sheets on your bed are very comfortable" _echoed in her ears, and she rushed to her bedroom. Frantically she stripped off the sheets from her bed and threw them across the room. The sound of her pulse racing was all she could hear as she slid down the side of her bed onto her carpet.

She brought her knees up to her chest and cried. She hadn't cried as hard as she was since the night she walked in on Roy cheating on her, and she swore to herself she wouldn't allow herself to cry like that again.

Kori wanted to call her dad, but she no longer had a cellphone, and she would be too scared to even if she did. _He's been in my house… He's been watching me… _ she thought to herself over and over again. She glanced at her alarm clock, glowing out into the darkness, somewhat illuminating her bedroom. It was nearing 10 o'clock, and she turned on her bedroom light.

She didn't think she could sleep with the light off tonight, not after everything that just happened. She walked up to her coat, and unfolded the envelope from her pocket.

Inside of the envelope there was a small piece of paper inside, telling her to meet whoever she was meeting in downtown Jump City, not too far from the University, and telling her what kind of outfit she would be most suited in as Xavier said the note would say.

She felt sick as her eyes went down to the last part of the note, and read out loud: "P.S- If you're not sure what dress to wear, that little black shoved in the back of your closet is highly recommended. Don't disappoint." She then knew it was Xavier who wrote the note.

"I can't believe this is happening… Why has he been stalking me?!" she angrily spoke to herself, the confusion becoming too overwhelming.

She took a few deep breaths, and tried to collect herself. "I'll just go to this party, and maybe I'll be left alone… It can't be that bad right?" she tried to reassure herself as she dressed into sleep attire before climbing onto her now bare mattress. She laid her head down on her pillow, and an image of Xavier lying down on her pillow went through her head, and she quickly turned her pillow over.

Squeezing her eyes shut tight, trying to stop the tears, she drifted off to sleep.

The sun shone brightly into her room through her bedroom window, she opened her eyes groaning at the brightness. _Didn't I close the curtains? _She thought eerily to herself, realizing the curtains were pulled apart completely. She cautiously got out of her bed, and looked out the window.

Her stomach began to hurt as she left her bedroom, breathing heavily as she poked her head out into the living room, her eyes darting every which way.

Once she figured the coast was clear, and that no one was in her apartment, she walked out into the living room and sighed. "I probably just forgot to close those curtains," she finally breathed out, though she wasn't entirely sure she believed it herself.

She walked around the apartment, and was relieved when she still found everything locked and seemingly untouched.

After hearing her stomach start to growl, and decided to raid her cabinets and force herself to eat something, though she still felt extremely sick due to everything that had happened the night before.

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><p>"Did your quest follow through?" an eerily calm voice spoke up, their dark eyes meeting Xavier's.<p>

"Yes sir. She will be attending the meeting tonight, willingly or unwillingly," he spoke in a respectful tone, wanting to do nothing but please his leader.

"And you did not harm Miss Anders, correct?" he inquired, knowing very well how Xavier can get a little carried away in his acts of duty.

Xavier rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "I did not 'harm' her, per say. Just scared her a little, to make sure she knew I meant business."

The man sat quietly, staring down Xavier. Xavier felt a sense of discomfort, fearing he had upset him. His discomfort turned to relief as the man then smiled at him, "Very well, Xavier. However, I think I will have Richard escort her here tonight. I want to make sure she will not change her mind about coming last minute."

"Why can't I escort her here tonight?" Xavier demanded, his tone growing slightly angry. His leader arched his brow up in response.

"Attached to her already, Xavier?" he asked tauntingly, before continuing, "I would just rather Richard to do it, because I know he won't harm her if she chooses to be… difficult. And by the sounds of it, she's already afraid of you, and our guest being more uncomfortable than needed is the last thing I want."

Though angry, Xavier nodded in agreement, not wanting to anger his leader. "Yes sir. I will let Richard know of the change of plans."

"Very well," he responded, before turning back to the papers that lay strewn across his desk. Xavier took that as his cue to leave to the room, and quietly shut the door behind him.

"Of course Richard is going to be put on duty," he muttered angrily, heading down the hallway. He heard voices growing nearer as he reached the end of the hall, and walked into the den.

"Hey X," a tall, muscular tattooed man shouted out, looking up from his place on the couch. He had slicked back black hair, a hooked nose, and had piercing black eyes. "Hey to you, Johnny," Xavier replied casually, though not really paying attention.

He walked in front of a mirror, taking out a comb and fixed his slightly disheveled hair. He studied his features for a moment, from his soft brown hair to his fierce golden eyes and the paleness of his smooth skin. After flashing a smile at himself, not caring how conceited it seemed, he turned to face the rest of the group lounging around bored in the den.

He watched Johnny as he sat there strumming a guitar, Malchior sitting on the floor in the corner of the room reading his ancient books. He rolled his eyes at Wally and his 'girlfriend' Jinx laid against each other on the couch, whispering into each other's ears, smiling or giggling in response to everything the other says.

"Love," he muttered, as if the idea made him sick. "Have any of you seen Richard?" he somewhat shouted so that they all would hear him over the guitar and the other noises.

Jinx sat up from the couch, a look of annoyance evident on her stunning features. She had a small pointed nose, full lips that she covered with a light pink shade of lip gloss. As usual she wore a black dress with boots that went up to her knees, her pink hair falling over her shoulders. "I think I saw him in his room when I walked by earlier, his door was slightly cracked open. I don't know if he'd still be in there though."

There was a time when Xavier wanted her to be his, and almost had his chance, but before he knew it she was swept off her feet by Wally. He was happy that Wally was happy, since they had been friends for a long time, though he hated the fact that Wally had for once, gotten the girl first. Xavier never liked to lose.

"Okay, thanks," and with that, Xavier walked back out of the noisy den and made his way to Richards bedroom.

He reached his door, and let himself in. "Knock, knock. Oh I do hope I'm interrupting," he chuckled, his eyes landing on Richards's body. Richard ignored him as he continued to sit at his computer desk, not even turning around to acknowledge Xavier, as he typed away on his laptop.

"What're you doing?" Xavier asked, prowling up to Richard to try to glance over his shoulder onto the laptop screen. Richard shut it before he could see anything, and turned around annoyed. "Can I help you Xavier?" he growled out, glaring up at him.

Xavier matched his glare, looking down. "Just wanted to let you know that you'll have to escort cuti- Miss Anders, to the meeting tonight," he spoke quickly, his eyes darkening as he continued to glare down at the rather pissed off looking Richard Grayson.

"Why me?" he asked, standing up, breaking eye contact with Xavier.

"I don't know. Apparently girls just think they're so safe around you and all that stupidity," Xavier muttered, sitting down on Richard's office chair.

"You almost sound jealous," Richard replied, leaning against his wall. Instead of responding, Xavier looked around Richard's bedroom. He hadn't been in there many times before, and he just realized how plain it was.

His walls were white and bare, his bed adorned in nothing but a black sheet, black blanket, and black pillows. The only furniture being his bed, dresser, desk, and a bookshelf shoved over by the window filled with too many books to count. Also next to his bed stood a small night stand, with an alarm clock and his cellphone lay next to it.

"Not one for decorations, huh?" Xavier thought aloud, annoyed on how little Richard revealed about himself.

Richard rolled his eyes, "Look, if I say that I'll escort this 'cuti- Miss Anders' for this meeting tonight, will you get the hell out of my room? Cause I already know I don't have a choice, so I'll go to her house tonight and get her. Now if you don't mind," Richard hissed, gesturing over towards his door.

Xavier clenched his jaw, his hands balling up into fists out of anger. "Sure," he growled, exiting the room.

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><p>Kori had spent her entire day laying around in her living room in her pajamas. She knew she only had a little over an hour before she had to leave for the party. As every minute passed by, her urge to throw up grew worse.<p>

She sighed again, and laid her head down onto the couch. Her thick auburn locks fell over her face, and she didn't bother to brush it off. Tapping her fingers on the cushion of the couch, she was still at conflict within herself if she should actually go to the party or not.

"Well if I don't go, he'll kill me. But what if he still kills me even if I do go?" she questioned, her usually light and friendly voice was now strained with fear.

As much as she was debating on the matter, she knew she really only had one option and that was to go to the party. She sat up from her seat, and decided she would take a shower.

As she stood, she arched her back as she stretched, flinching as she felt her lower back crack. She shuddered at the sound of it, and was about to walk towards the bathroom door when she heard a knock on the door.

Frightened by the knock, she jumped and rushed over to her counter and pulled out a steak knife. Glancing up at the clock, she knew she still had an hour to leave, let alone be at the party.

Kori gripped the steak knife tightly in her small hand, and staggered over to her front door. Standing up on her tip toes, she peered through the peep hole. She almost felt relief to see that it wasn't Xavier standing in front of the door, but she still felt panicked because she had no idea who this man was either.

She watched as the man brought his fist back up to the door, his eyes in the direction of the peep hole. After a moment of pondering on whether or not to open the door, she almost reluctantly undid the locks, though not undoing her deadbolt.

Opening the door as much as the deadbolt allowed her to, she peered up at the man. "Can I help you?" she asked, not knowing to be afraid or not. Her hand gripping the knife was hidden behind the door, but was ready to attack if he tried anything.

He arched his brow at her, and she felt herself melt a little. Then she realized two beautiful and strangely pale men coming up to her at random in the middle of the night, probably wasn't a coincidence.

She gripped the knife tighter, and she waited for him to respond. He was still looking down at her with the same expression, and she just wanted him to speak already. His sapphire eyes met hers, and she felt the butterflies start up in her stomach.

With his black hair slightly gelled to perfection, his bright piercing sapphire eyes and tall muscular build, she knew she was in trouble. She felt herself fighting the urge to touch him, as his appearance almost seemed too beautiful – to perfect – to be real.

"Your appearance hardly seems acceptable for this party," he stated coldly, his eyes no longer looking into hers, but now staring at her tank top and sweat pants. All the butterflies in her stomach quickly vanished, and her fear suddenly turned to anger.

"Oh great, another one," she retorted bitterly, turning away from him. "As if one asshole forcing me to go to some party or 'meeting' wasn't enough."

She shivered as she felt his cold grasp on her arm, as he turned her to face him. She looked up at him in alarm. "I will not deal with an attitude, Miss. As much as you don't want to deal with me, trust me. I don't want to deal with you either." He let go of her arm, and slightly shoved her back away from him.

He looked down at her, almost feeling guilty. He hated to admit that her huge, bright green eyes might start to be a problem for him. He knew he had scared her, but he didn't want to give her the satisfaction of hearing an apology. "I'm Richard, Richard Grayson," he muttered nonchalantly, looking away from her eyes. He knew he couldn't keep up his heartless, jerk attitude if he kept looking into them. _Don't get attached, she's just a job_ he reminded himself, just wanting her to hurry up and get ready.

His eyes instead went to her hand, which was still gripping onto a knife. He chuckled, "Nice knife." He grabbed at his heart, feigning to be offended, "I cannot believe you even thought about using that knife on me. When all this time, I had no intentions of inflicting any harm on you whatsoever. I had hoped that feeling was mutual."

Kori rolled her eyes, not enjoying being made fun of. _How can someone so beauti_ful, _be such an ass?_ She wondered angrily, wishing she had the guts to take the knife and plunge it straight into his chest.

Instead, she dropped the knife on the floor, and turned away. "I'm Kori, but you already know that. I'll be in the shower. Don't touch anything."

She was tired of letting her fear be shown, so she figured it was best to just act like she didn't give a damn.

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><p><strong>Next chapter will be up next week hopefully, though I will be out of town. I am almost finished with the next chapter to my other story <strong>_**Whatever it Takes**_**, so that will be posted sometime tomorrow night or the day after. Thanks for reading, review to let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter Three: The Party

_**Before Dawn**_

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><p>"<em>I want you to believe… to believe in things you cannot," – Bram Stoker, Dracula.<em>

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><p><em><strong>AN: Just a warning, this chapter is going to be really short. I went ahead and decided to update again because I won't know when I'll be update again after today, just because I'll be out of town longer than expected and busy. Thank you for all the follows, favorites, and reviews I've gotten so far.**_

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><p><em>Chapter Three: The Gathering<em>

After about forty minutes, Kori stepped out of the bathroom. Richard had kept himself occupied by looking around her apartment, realizing she had only one family picture. He assumed it was her father on the left, her mother next to him. Then standing front of them was their three children, Kori being the last one on the right. He guessed she was probably around 15 in the picture, and he almost smiled as he looked at how innocent and happy she seemed to be.

He heard her clear her throat, and he turned around, still holding the picture in his hand. He glanced at Kori standing before him in a tight black dress, hugging her curves in all the right places. The darkness of the dress made her auburn locks stand out, as well as her green eyes. He glanced from Kori to the picture of Kori has a teenage girl, and he couldn't believe how such an innocent looking girl transformed into this incredibly attractive and seductive being standing in front of him.

"Well, are we going, or are you just going to stand there drooling all night?" she snapped, mustering up the most hateful tone she could, though she felt flattered that he seemed to become speechless due to her appearance.

He gritted his teeth, her attitude bringing him back down to reality. "For one, I'm not drooling, and two, I just can't get over how incredibly nerd-like you looked as a teenager. Though," he pressed on, walking over to her, examining her face. She felt his cool breath on her cheek, and her insides started squirming. "I guess I can still see it in you today. I guess people never really change that much. Also, while you were away, I gathered up some clothes for you. We are no longer meeting in Jump, but our place outside of the city."

She stared up at him in complete disbelief, and found herself fighting the urge to punch him in the face. "Well if you're done insulting me then, and snooping around my apartment though I said to _not _touch anything, can we get on with the rest of my already ruined night?"

They glared at each other for a moment, before he finally smirked. He threw his hand up beside him, gesturing towards the door, "Right this way."

She huffed and stormed out of her apartment, finding her way to what she assumed was his car in the darkness.

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><p>She made sure to keep her eyes facing the window the entire car ride. He had made it clear he didn't care for her, and she knew she didn't care for him, whatever he was. He realized she was avoiding him on purpose, and chuckled.<p>

She heard him, but merely squeezed her eyes shut, and tried to take some calming breaths. He glanced over at her, and began humming the tune of The Jefferson's. Richard, to go along with his humming, began drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.

He usually didn't try to go out of his way to be annoying, but she just had that effect on him. He kept drumming and humming until she finally turned around and yelled, "MUST YOU?!"

He laughed, hard. "I was just trying to make you talk," he mused, loving how quickly she got so bothered. He flashed his dazzling smile, and turned his attention back to the road. Kori, however, was fuming. "First you're an ass, and then you care if I talk or not after saying you don't want to deal with me? I'm sick of this. What do you and Xavier... I mean 'X', even want. "

After her outburst, she stared at him, impatiently waiting for a response. He merely shrugged his shoulder, and she couldn't resist it anymore. Before she even knew what she was doing, she reached up and smacked his face as hard as she could. "Do _not _shrug at me. I want answers, damnit, and I want them now."

He jerked the car over to the side of the road, his once icy blue eyes now turning a dark black. He grabbed her arm and yanked her towards him. She whimpered, "You're… you're hurting me…"

"If you ever think about touching me one more time, Miss Anders, I promise you, I will not be this nice about it the next time. I understand you're confused, but I'm just the escort, and whatever the leader wants with you is his business to tell you. Not mine." He dropped her arm, not caring that he knew there would definitely be a bruise there by the end of the night.

He stared, watching the tears still forming in her eyes, and he turned away. He didn't want to care, so he kept driving. She refaced the window, and rubbed her arm in silence. Instead of trying to fight the tears, she just let them flow from her eyes, streaming down her face and dripping off of her chin.

* * *

><p>Xavier stood in the driveway of their large estate, waiting for Richard to pull into the driveway at any point. "What is taking so damn long?" he muttered, frustrated. He hated the fact that Richard was the one to get Kori all to himself for a long period of the night. He knew he scared and irritated Kori, but he found harassing her to be quite enjoyable. <em>She's just too damn cute for her own good, <em>thought to himself thinking back to the night he was with her.

He saw headlights, and sighed "Finally" as he waited for Richard to park. He approached the car, and opened Richards door for him, though not gentleman-like. "What took so long, Grayson?" he pressed for answers, irritated that Richard was alone with her for so long, and due to the fact that he had to be later than originally planned due to them changing where they wanted the meeting to be.

"Chill out Xavier," Richard spoke through gritted teeth, "It's not like you own her."

"Nobody owns me," Kori said, suddenly standing outside of the car, annoyed at the two bickering boys who stood across from her. "Cutie," Xavier said, acknowledging her existence, "Is that smeared make-up I see? You made her cry?" he said, his attention then going back to Richard, "I guess you're not that good of a guy like he thinks after all." He smirked at Richards pissed off expression.

"I'll go tell him that you have arrived," Xavier announced, before disappearing.

"How does he do that?" Kori asked out loud to herself, her frustration from not knowing anything that was going on returning. She heard Richard laugh, and she scoffed at him. "What's so funny?"

"Your ignorance, though I guess I can't really blame you," he said lightly, feeling bad for her being thrown into a world she didn't understand. He knew what it felt like, to be completely lost and confused, and he never wanted anyone else to feel that way.

"Are we going inside? Or are we just going to stand out in the cold all night?" she irritably spoke, wanting to go inside. He on the other hand, hadn't noticed the temperature, or he would have brought her in sooner.

"Sorry," he quickly said, guiding her to the front doors. "Just… stay with me, and nothing bad will happen, alright?"

"Oh, now you care about my wellbeing? You certainly didn't care about leaving a bruise on my arm in the car," she said accusingly, raising her arm up where he could see the already forming bruise. He frowned, "Well to be fair, you did slap me in the face for no reason. So just… stick with me, don't do anything abrupt, and you'll be fine, okay?"

He opened the door, and kept his hand on her lower back, keeping her close to his side. She felt a sudden sense of protection, which surprised her since he had just been the most recent one to cause physical pain on her. They walked past what looked like a den, and she heard hissing inside.

She looked through the open door, and was surprised to see a few 'people' standing inside. They all shared the same paleness that Richard and Xavier had, and she wondered if this was some weird cult of some kind. Their dark eyes all held a cold gaze on Kori, and she felt extremely frightened.

Richard gave them all a glare, and pushed Kori past the den. "Just keep going," he said, knowing how scared she must have felt. "What…are you?" she asked, noticing how cold his hand felt against her, she could feel the coldness through her dress. It caused her to shiver. "I mean… with everything that's happened…. The way you all look, and how fast Xavier moves… How un-normally cold you are… It doesn't make sense."

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me," he said quietly, wanting to avoid the topic.

"Try me…" she spoke quietly, her stomach already starting to hurt again. _That response is clearly saying he isn't human._

"Kori… If you haven't figured it out by now… This really isn't a 'party'… And I don't think you'll be leaving anytime soon… So I guess I should probably give you a heads up…"

"A heads up on what?" she asked, though she was terrified of what the answer might be.

"Kori…. You're currently standing in the mansion of a clan of Vampires," he quickly spoke, his hand quickly left her lower back, and now just hung down by his side. "Our leader would like to speak with you," he announced, and gently shoved her towards two large doors. "Good luck," he whispered in her ear, still standing behind her.

She knew that when she went inside of those doors, she might finally greet her death. What she didn't know, however, was the second she walked inside, everything about her life was going to change, and not for the good.


End file.
